The present invention relates to a connector to be connected to a connection object such as a flexible printed circuit board (FPC).
For example, a connector of the type is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2002-15826 or 2002-124331 and comprises a housing, a conductive contact held by the housing, and an actuator rotatably coupled to the housing to drive the contact. The contact has a contacting portion to be contacted with a connection object and an operating portion faced to the contacting portion. The actuator has a cam disposed between the contacting portion and the operating portion of the contact and engaged with the operating portion. Between the cam of the actuator and the contacting portion of the contact, an inserting portion for insertion of the connection object is formed.
The connection object is inserted into the inserting portion in a state where the actuator is located at an opened position. After the connection object is inserted into the inserting portion, the actuator is rotated to a closed position. Then, the connection object is clamped between the cam and the contacting portion. Further, the operating portion is driven by the cam in a direction away from the contacting portion. As a consequence, the contacting portion is strongly press-contacted with the connection object. Thus, the connection object is connected to the connector. Accordingly, the connection object is easily inserted into the inserting portion and connection is established under strong force.
However, when the actuator is rotated from the opened position to the closed position, the cam is brought into sliding contact with the connection object. Accordingly, following the rotation of the actuator, the connection object may be undesirably displaced from a proper position. For example, the connection object may be moved in an ejecting direction outward from the inserting portion to thereby cause a failure in achieving desired connection.